Almost two years ago, in 2012, the Internet literally exploded from the shocking news: “Gorbachev died!” The first president of the USSR (and the last and only) was “buried” with honors.
The news was hotly debated. Some claimed that the heart that had suffered so many tragedies could not stand it, while others hinted that death was someone else's order. And some sarcastically remarked: “Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev died together with the Soviet Union ...” It, of course, was about the death of weight and significance of a person as a politician. In general, people were at a loss ...
Where did the earth rumble from?
False rumors that Gorbachev died, began their "flight" from the well-known social network called Twitter. The original source of gossip was not the Russian sector, as previously stated, but the English one. Now it’s hard to say whose hands (more precisely, computers) this business is. Most amateur analysts are inclined to believe that the news was spread by Swedish Prime Minister Frederick Reinfeldt, and in pure English. Of course, the account from which they claimed that Gorbachev had died turned out to be false, and the prime minister himself did not hear about gossip. Moreover, the English-language sector of the well-known Wikipedia on the very page that dedicated to Gorbachev was supplemented with the corresponding correction on the day of death.
According to the data laid out, Gorbachev died in 2012, May 22 ... The news “sagged” only seven minutes. However, that was enough. But the running gossip spread across sites, blogs, all social networks with lightning fast speed. Moreover, she became one of the most talked about. The hashtag "Gorbachev" has become a real world trend.
By the way, the phrase “Is it true that Gorbachev died?” Is still being recruited by search engines - the ex-president of the Soviet Union has been “buried” at least four times in the past two years. Each time the information turned out to be a "duck." We dare to assure readers: now Mikhail Sergeyevich is alive and well.
Who's guilty?
One more phrase involuntarily comes to mind: “What to do?” Probably, a bored Italian journalist named Tomasso Debeneditti asked himself this question. It was he who suddenly came up with the idea of creating a fake account. The “German Minister” turned out to be the very same Italian journalist, known, by the way, as a lover of such jokes.
Tomasso Debeneditti frankly admitted: the creation of fake accounts of world leaders was carried out with the aim of launching misinformation and tricking the media, forcing them to once again publish unverified information (simply lie). It is difficult to even guess what the Italian was guided by, because he himself is a journalist.
But what does Gorbachev say about his funeral?
Of course, he was surprised at such rumors. However, we give credit, Mikhail Sergeyevich reacted to the news with a certain sense of humor. He stated that “thanks to” such media he had “died” several times already. Another news about his own death found Mikhail Sergeyevich in the clinic, where the next scheduled examination was carried out. At the moment, the ex-president’s state of health is normal and does not cause any concern.